Operating a vehicle such as a larger passenger vehicle entails particular difficulties and risks to the safety of the vehicle, the passengers boarding and disembarking from the vehicle, and nearby pedestrians during transit. Conventionally, mirrors are attached to various parts of the exterior of the vehicle to enhance the driver's view.
Mirrors, however, present their own challenges. First, a mirror and the arm or arms on which it is mounted protrude away from the vehicle. Mirrors can therefore be impact targets when the vehicle is in motion or is stationary. Also, the mirrors and the assemblies on which they are mounted may introduce drag and may thus decrease fuel economy.
Additionally, mirrors do not provide a unified view from inside the cabin for the driver. For example, if a conventional cross-view mirror is attached to the front right side of the vehicle and a second cross-view mirror is attached on the front left side of the vehicle, then in order to ensure that the vehicle has clearance on both sides and that no pedestrians are in harm's way, the driver must look in opposite directions, to the right and then to the left, and then ahead before proceeding, perhaps even repeating this process. Furthermore, the driver must look outside the cabin to view the mirrors positioned on the exterior of the vehicle, which requires looking through the side windows or a windshield, which may be dirty or wet or covered with snow or the like.
Further, different drivers will require mirrors set at different settings, or heights, depending on the driver's height and head position with respect to the driver's cabin. Therefore, each driver will need to adjust or re-adjust the external mirrors according to his or her body type or driving posture.
In addition, the mirrors will be typically quite dark in the early morning hours or in the evening hours. The driver's eyes will have to adjust to the different lighting conditions as the outside lighting changes throughout the day. The driver may have to contend simultaneously with different lighting conditions since the field of view of one of the external mirrors may be well lit at any particular time, while the field of view of another mirror may be poorly lit or not lit at all.
Camera systems have been used on the exteriors of school buses. As an example, the present assignee describes an exterior camera system and driver controls which afford a view substantially 360° around the school bus in its U.S. Pat. No. 9,286,521, incorporated herein by reference.
However, we have determined that improved systems for hazard detection, which address one or more of the foregoing issues and/or other related issues, are needed.